(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a pedestrian protective radiator grill, and more particularly to a pedestrian protective radiator grill which, when a vehicle accidentally hits a pedestrian, moves to a pedestrian protecting position where the radiator grill has an almost vertical profile, so as to mitigate injuries of the pedestrian hit by the vehicle.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A bumper is the front-most or rear-most part of a car, and the first part to absorb impact when the car collides with an object. However, generally, the bumper does very little to lessen the impact on a pedestrian who is hit by the car.
FIGS. 1A and 1B (RELATED ART) are diagrams to show a state in which a pedestrian is hit by the front bumper of a car.
With reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, because of the structural characteristic in which the front bumper protrudes from the front end of the body of a car, when the car accidently hits a pedestrian, the impact to the pedestrian is concentrated on the pedestrian's leg, especially on the knee, and as a result, the shin or thigh of the pedestrian tends to severely bend due to the impact as shown in FIG. 1A, and the shin or thigh can be severely injured as shown in FIG. 1B, which may result in serious damage to the leg.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-000881 discloses a structure mounted to the front grill of an automobile. However, this technology cannot satisfactorily mitigate injuries sustained by a pedestrian who is hit by a car.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.